Israel allows fuel into Gaza

Israeli forces yesterday opened the Kerem Shalom crossing between the besieged Gaza Strip and Israel to allow the import of fuel into the coastal enclave.

Samir Hamadeh, a board member of an organisation representing Gaza’s fuel and gas companies, told Ma’an that the crossing was opened allowing diesel and gasoline to be pumped into the Gaza Strip.

He said there were issues with the pump transporting cooking gas into the besieged enclave, adding that the pump broke and was not able to supply enough cooking oil.

Hamadeh added that the Gaza Strip needs some 400 tonnes of gas each day to meet the needs of the residents of the small Palestinian territory, but no more than 280 tonnes had entered the crossing yesterday.

Kerem Shalom is one of two operating Israeli crossings out of the blockaded coastal enclave, dedicated primarily to the movement of goods and the only crossing available for the import of fuel.

Pedestrians moving in and out of the Gaza Strip travel through the Erez crossing, which is closed to the majority of the Gaza’s Palestinian residents.

The majority of the more than 1.8 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are sealed inside the coastal enclave due to a near-decade long military blockade imposed by Israel and upheld by Egypt on the southern border.